At first breathtaking sight, Marcus Fitzalan is willing to wager his membership in the Society of Scoundrels that the Lady Jade Smithfield is proud to be a scandal. Jade Smithfield's grandmother unwittingly sold a land option to the railroad before she died. Nevertheless, to keep the family secret and to save the downtrodden women in her care, Jade is determined to stop the South Downs Railroad from laying track on her property. To save his disabled brother's railroad, and the families who will lose their living without it, Marcus Fitzalan applies for the job as Jade's man of affairs to conceal his investigation into the railroad accidents halting construction. While Jade wreaks havoc on the railroad, and leads Marcus a merry chase, her new man of affairs teaches her a lesson contrary to everything she has learned since birth: Not all men are created equal-some of them are good. Lust muddies a high-stakes battle only one of them can win.